MDG3

The fifty-seventh session of the Commission on the Status of Women will take place at United Nations Headquarters in New York from 4 to 15 March 2013 under the theme “Elimination and prevention of all forms of violence against women and girls.” The APC Women’s Rights Programme has a full agenda at the event as part of its advocacy efforts supporting women’s and internet rights.

Drawing on findings from APC’s MDG3: Take Back the Tech!i project with women’s rights organisations in twelve countries in Asia, Africa and Latin America, this paper explores the links between the internet, cell phones and violence against women and illustrates that technology related violence impacts women as seriously as other forms of violence.

Drawing on findings from APC’s MDG3: Take Back the Tech! project with women’s rights organisations in twelve countries in Asia, Africa and Latin America, this paper explores the links between the internet, cell phones and violence against women and illustrates that technology-related violence impacts women as seriously as other forms of violence.

Raahnuma.org was one of the winners of the Take Back the Tech! Fund. They provide support and resources for anyone who is suffering abuse, including where they can find medical, psychological and legal help.

From stop-animation to digital recordings and interactive websites; discussions about abortion and reproductive rights to government legislation regarding violence against women; women and their organisations will learn to use ICTs in order to prevent the spread of violence against women. Five innovative projects that work with women and ICTs will receive funding through the APC women’s programme’s Take Back the Tech! to end violence against women project.

KUALA LUMPUR28 November 2010
(Violence is Not Our Culture for APC WNSP)

Take Back The Tech! partners with the “Violence is Not our Culture” global campaign to mark this year’s International Day on Women Human Rights Defenders and the 16 Days of Activism to End Violence Against Women (VAW) . On 29 November 2010, we join hands in solidarity and call for all of our campaigners and allies in different parts of the world to support the work of women human rights defenders in demanding an end to violence against women justified in the name of “culture”, “religion” or “tradition”.

Cambodian students and youth are learning how to use Facebook and Twitter over the internet to address the issue of violence against women. Through information-sharing activities, they will teach each other and engage in discussions about gender-based violence; some of which will elaborate strategic plans and suggestions for the national action plan on violence against women. In total, four local organisations will receive funding as part of the APC women’s programmes work on the third Millennium development goal on equality for women (MDG3).

The Democratic Republic of Congo’s (DRC) capital city of Kinshasa, dubbed the “capital of rape” by the UN special rapporteur Margot Wallström, is a city fraught with violence and remnants of a war-regime. But women in the city are taking charge of their lives and demanding for more security, more services to help women survivors of violence, and an end to the impunity for those who rape, torture and kill women. Si jeunesse savait, a local organisation that works with youth and women in the DRC will be training four organisations in the use of ICTs to help prevent further atrocities and end violence against women (VAW). Seed grants of 5000 US each will go to four organisations, to support their work to end violence against women. The grants are being distributed by the APC’s Women’s Networking Support Programme (WNSP) as part of its Take Back the Tech! to end violence against women project, which addresses the third millennium development goal, violence against women.

Women in Uganda’s rural areas will learn about domestic violence against women through the use of different ICT tools to build awareness around the issue, but they will also learn to report and prevent it – and the mobile phone will be playing a big part in their campaigns – from frontline SMS, to around-the-clock hotlines. Other tools being used include web 2.0 and online publishing tools, as well as radio. Four organisations that work with women and ICTs are being awarded with small grants to implement these projects through the APC Women’s Networking Support Programme’s (WNSP) Take Back the Tech! to end violence against women project, which targets the third Millennium development goal on equality for women.